From the start it’s been clear what this is about.
I’m a slow learner so it took a while for it to sink in. This crazy adventure wasn’t a bike ride and it wasn’t a fund raiser.
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Toward the conclusion of the 2011 Mississippi River ride that started this craziness, a nice lady named Meg invited us to a small Mississippi town named Rolling Fork. She agreed to pay for our hotel if we’d speak at the local high school.
You can read the full story here. It’s pretty funny…the short version is that Meg didn’t know there were no accessible hotel rooms in Rolling Fork. She beat the bushes–literally, I think–and couldn’t find a place for us. So she begged the only accessible room in town.
We arrived to discover that we’d bee booked for a night in the local hospital!
I don’t like hospitals–not many fond memories–but these folks overwhelmed us with so much love and hospitality that we actually had one of the best nights of the trip. When we left it felt like leaving family.
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When I look back and think about the stories that matter, they’re not about dollars. They are about connections with the people those dollars help and the folks those dollars support who work so hard in the U.S. and around the globe to be Jesus’ hands and feet.
The stories are never about miles. They are about people we’ve met along the way who’ve enriched our lives.
RICH’S RIDE and FRONT RANGE FREEDOM TOUR are about community.
So a while back when a friend asked, “What would failure look like,” my answer wasn’t about miles or dollars. Those get people excited, but they’re not what this is about.
“Failure” would look like a lack of community.
Empowerment, trust, connection, service, sacrifice…
Hope you’ll join us!
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